Aging and the Concept of Expansion

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what your life will be like when you’re in your 80s. Did you picture yourself in one of those rooms where the walls start closing in on you? Or did you see the world opening up in front of you like an unexplored highway?

When we are born our world is very small. As we age, we learn things like motion, speech and social connectedness. These things make our world expand. The Seven Dimensions of Wellness also help our world to expand.

The Seven Dimensions of Wellness are: cultural/social, emotional, environmental, intellectual, physical, spiritual, vocational. If you can think of more, great! These seven should get you started on expanding your world.

There is not a line in the sand – even when we retire from lifelong careers – that determines where one’s world must start to contract and get smaller again. In fact, expansion should be our lifelong goal. Lifelong learning, in the intellectual dimension, is one path we can explore to keep expanding our horizons.

We are capable of growing and expanding our worlds throughout every age and stage of life. We only need to listen to that small, inner voice, and continue to choose expansion through the prodding of our inner passions.

Let us become Refined by Age™ and live in expansion for as long as we shall live.

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1 Comment

BETTEDEWING@aol.com

August 29, 2015 – 11:57 am

Kathy it’s the culture of ageism and age apartheid that is so limiting, so wrong…..protesting all that is what so needs to be done starting when you are in mid-life. Please please consider dear Kathy and thank you

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I have worked in the aging field for over 25 years, serving on initiatives at the national and international level. I want to help people become Refined by Age by encouraging them to age intentionally through developing the Seven Dimensions of Wellness in their lives: spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual, social/cultural, environmental, vocational. I also want to help people become aware of age discrimination - the last acceptable form of discrimination.